By a Fraction of a Degree
A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129
Rated T for Violence and Language.
I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spin-offs That honor goes to Square-Enix.
Part III: Demons
Chapter 68, Into the Breach
June 21st [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 8:45 PM
The day was starting to grow darker as the sun was dipping closer to the horizon behind the storm clouds, lighting them a somewhat brighter grey in the fading twilight, and the combined troops of GUARDIAN and Shinra had made it right up to the city walls. They had not quite been able to make the push into the city itself because Deepground's anti-aircraft batteries had managed to keep their drop ships at bay for the most part. Most of Deepground's ground units had departed to man the city's defenses, but a few remained to keep the pressure on the attacking force.
Zack stood on a hill a short distance away from the Sector 6 gate, a Wall spell active as bullets pelted around him. Aerith was right next to him as were Cloud, Tifa, Freya, Kunsel, Vincent, Genesis, and Argento. If the Turks came through, which he was sure they would, then something should be happening very soon, and then the final push could begin.
He glanced to his left, and saw that Kunsel looked a little troubled. "Is something up?" he asked.
The brown-haired swordsman shook his head. "I'm worried about what we're going to find in there," he said. "There's been a lot of time that's passed since they've taken the city, who knows how many were murdered in there?"
Zack had a thought. "Your folks were in there too, weren't they?"
Kunsel shook his head. "My old man called me last night once he was able to get service. After our meeting, he and Mom were already on edge and when the evacuation got called, they made it out. But, so many others didn't." He let out a sigh. "On the one hand I'm relieved, but on the other, so many other people didn't leave when they had the chance…"
"I know what you mean," Zack said. He looked over at Cloud. "Kind makes you realize how lucky we all are that we're standing here at all, if you think about it."
Cloud gave grunt of agreement but was content with that being his answer. He was also watching the gate, lost in his own thoughts.
Speaking of other members of the group who seemed lost in thought… He glanced over at Vincent. His eyes seemed slightly unfocused as he leaned against a rock protruding from the hillside. At first, he'd thought his comrade's behavior not that unusual for a man who'd just turned into 'Omega's squire to the lofty heavens,' if such an event could elicit a normal reaction. After all, the breadth of Vincent's regular mannerisms usually ranged along the spectrum between quiet contemplation and intense brooding. He did emote enough to register a wry smile occasionally, or even surprise, but for the most part, that wasn't common, even in the moments following his shape shifting. However, after the incident with Chaos, there had been moments where he'd spotted the man looking downright disoriented, and for Vincent that was different.
He was about to turn his attention back to watching the gate, when, almost on cue Kunsel spoke in a low voice, "Hey Zack, is something up with Vincent?"
"You noticed too?" Zack asked.
His friend shrugged. "Not really sure. I wondered because yesterday before the meeting, he walked up to me with that same look on his face that he's wearing now."
"Yeah?"
"It might not mean anything," Kunsel said, "But if something's up…"
"I don't know," Zack said softly, "But when we get in there, it might not be a bad idea to keep an eye on him. I intend to regardless, since we're still not sure how he's supposed to protect that Protomateria thing, but…"
"No worries," the brown haired swordsman said. "I'll stick close too, just in case."
"Thanks…" At that moment, their conversation was interrupted when an explosion rent its way through the Sector 6 Gate, blowing the entrance into the slums wide open. Off in the distance, several other blasts went off in unison, some corresponding to the destruction of anti-aircraft units on the upper plate while others belonged to the remaining Sector Gates. Zack reached for the headset connected to his PHS and hit the com button which would broadcast his signal to every single communicator in the army. "All right guys, it's show time! Begin phase two! Let's get to it!"
At the signal, a battle cry rang along the line of troops and overhead, the fleet of airships, planes and helicopters could be seen making a new push to knock out key targets on the upper plate. In the cacophony of blasts Zack raced forward, flanked by Cloud, now on foot, along with Kunsel, Tifa, Argento, Genesis, Freya, and Vincent. Aerith was right behind them, casting Wall spells as she went to protect the front line along with Elfe and Shears, both of them alert for any sign of dangers coming around from their flanks. A small army of summons appeared before them, opening the way to the ruined gate as the Deepgrounders scattered unable to withstand the might of the onslaught, and when they disappeared, just as Zack reached the gate, they were too disorganized to put up a strong resistance. Not with the combined might of GUARDIAN and Shinra's forces streaming in through the gates to the slums in a torrent, nor the airships dropping operatives onto the plate above which Barret, Cid, and Nanaki were helping to lead.
Zack brought the Buster Sword up to counter the blade of a Deepground SOLDIER, before cutting him in two and continuing on his way. Around him the others were holding their own, and in the smoke and noise of battle, they made their way down the main street in the direction of the train tracks dodging bullets and skirmishing with enemies as they went. The flash of a Bolt spell went off nearby, followed by a Fire, drawing the group's attention to two men who had just exited the shadows.
" 'sup yo!" Reno yelled over the noise before he and Rude took position and started assisting in clearing a path.
"You're the escort to Sector 0?" Tifa only paused for a moment, eyes alert for any other gunmen on the walls.
"Courtesy of Rufus Shinra," Reno spotted a Deepgrounder up on one of the roofs and immediately sent a charge from his EMR rod in that direction before ducking for cover in case he decided to retaliate. "We scouted out your route while we were prepping the charges for our detonation points. If there's an installation on the tracks, we know it's there." The group turned down a narrower side street and Genesis detonated a powerful Fire spell in front of them. Pausing to let the flames die down before they could continue, everyone took cover among the fallen debris.
"So what have we got then?" Kunsel asked, shouldering a little closer to Zack, Aerith, and the two Turks.
"There's three stations along the way with Widows stationed at checkpoints, yo. Public transportation isn't running right now, so you won't have to worry about trains, just soldiers."
"Great," Freya said. Suddenly everyone heard a noise, and looked up. That was when Zack heard the lady Turk continue. "So what can you tell us about that?" Now that he saw what it was, he wouldn't have minded a little elaboration too, to tell the truth.
It looked a bit like a Deepground soldier, with the same sort of Mako suit and everything, except, this particular man's uniform was black, and the helmet had what almost looked like a fin along the top of it and following the curve of the head. He was also packing a machine gun and seemed to be on the lookout for anyone who might try to get past him.
"Oh, him," Reno said. "He's one of their elites. Probably just a step down from the Tsviets."
"Well, we'll have to get through him to get where we're going won't we?" Tifa asked.
"Yup," Reno confirmed. "But it probably wouldn't help to make a big spectacle about it."
"In that case, we'll catch him by surprise," Zack said. "Cloud, Vincent, Tifa, you're with me." He turned back to the Shinra affiliated Turks. "You guys too if we can have you. Everyone else, wait here until our friend drops."
"Got it," Kunsel said.
Genesis on the other hand, seemed a little miffed, but decided to let it go for the time being, but Elfe, Shears, and Argento seemed perfectly content to wait, and guard their backs.
Ducking into the next street, Zack led the way along the city block, noting their proximity to Wall Market. As they reached the next alley, Zack motioned that Cloud and Vincent take point on this and the two stepped forward, however, it was at that point when Rude cleared his throat. The swordsman and the gunman looked at him questioningly and the martial artist made set of field gestures with his hands. Vincent repeated the signals in confirmation and Rude nodded before Cloud also nodded to show he understood the suggestions the Turk was making for handling the situation. Zack blinked. He thought he understood most of it, but if he didn't know any better, he would have thought a complete conversation had just gone on between the three of them without speaking a single word.
Once they were finished, the gunman and the blonde swordsman crept down the alley and then out of sight. The next thing he heard was a short cry of surprise followed by several quick gunshots, before Cloud reappeared, giving the all clear sign. Zack motioned that everyone should follow him and they hurried out into the next street.
Behind them they could hear the clamor of the front that they were leaving behind, as per the the plan, and it wasn't long before they made it to the train station. Upon getting there, Zack spotted a familiar young woman waiting for them.
"Glad to see you made it Zack," Cissnei said, the rekka over her shoulder. Around her was a small pile of bodies, the Deepgrounders who were supposed to be guarding the area. "I hope you don't mind that I felt like taking out the trash while I waited."
"Not a problem," Zack replied. "Good to see you again."
"Would you like me to I tag along?" the renegade asked.
"The more the merrier," Aerith said with a smile. "Although, I guess…" she turned to Elfe and Shears. "You'll need to get to the reactors won't you."
Shears nodded. "Yeah, this is about as far as we go." He turned to look around at the others. "Make sure you beat these guys extra hard for us, all right?"
It was Freya who answered with a grin. "You can bet we will."
Elfe nodded approvingly and then walked away, and Shears followed her automatically, offering a thumbs-up before the two of them disappeared into another alley.
After a moment, Zack spoke up again. "So, now that we're all set, let's… make tracks?"
There was a collective groan from the group as they got going along the rails and Cloud murmured "That was pretty lame."
"Hey," Zack said with a chuckle, "You have no room to talk, especially not after what Cid told me you said at the Crater."
At Cloud's blank look, Zack's grin became even wider. "I mean seriously, 'Let's mosey?' The least you could have said was something like… I dunno, 'Let's get this guy!' or even 'Charge!', right?"
Cloud returned the grin sheepishly before he stopped, seeing that up ahead, Argento had also paused along the train tracks. "What is it?" he asked.
The Silver Tsviet was alert, poised and listening for further movement for a few moments before speaking. "We have soldiers approaching on our 2 o'clock, and we will be within their visible radius in about half a minute.
Silently, everyone prepared their weapons again before moving forward.
June 21st [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 10:00 PM
Shalua had just finished her shift at the command center about half an hour ago and had walked over to the infirmary which had been set in place in one of the larger homes in Kalm. Off to one side of the building a small room had been set up with a Mako tank, which she was now sitting nearby on a folding chair she had brought with her. This part of the infirmary had been something they'd had to put together on the fly. Most SOLDIERs could survive without constant exposure to Mako, as the compounds within it literally became part of them in the initial procedures; Shelke was a different matter, as was Argento, though the treatments she had endured were the sort that would allow for a much more extended period of time before withdrawal set in. Her little sister was resting in the tank, almost as though asleep, a situation Shalua could barely fathom. Why did it have to be like this? It wasn't fair. She'd only been a child when this had been done to her, her innocence stolen away by the hard life of a Tsviet before she'd even had a chance to live as a human being.
The former AVALANCHE member glanced down at her own prosthetic arm and gritted her teeth in frustration. Shelke had volunteered to help Cid, she knew, and there had always been the chance something might happen, but none of this should have ever had to happen. "Shelke," she said, wondering if her sister could hear her behind the glass, "After this is over, you and me are going somewhere quiet, where no one can hurt you, and we're going to start over. I'm going to be a better sister to you, and nobody's going to take you away from me."
The girl didn't seem to stir and Shalua continued to watch her for several minutes before she heard a door opening nearby before she heard a familiar voice. "No, it's no trouble. I'm sure we can find somewhere for him to wait." Doctor Rayleigh came into view and paused at the doorway. That was when Shalua saw that Jessie was with her, along with the boy they had found at the Church. Denzel, she believed his name was. "Oh Shalua. You don't mind if Denzel stays in here for a little do you?"
"What happened?" Shalua asked.
"He came looking for news about Cloud and Tifa," Jessie explained. "Reeve gave me a few minutes to find him somewhere to stay, but I need to get back to Central Command."
Shalua smiled. "It's all right."
Rayleigh left the room to get back to work and Jessie turned to her younger companion. "I'll come check on you later, okay?"
The boy nodded and walked over to another chair near a desk against the wall, sitting down without a word. After Jessie left, the room was once again uncomfortably silent. Shalua glanced up at the new arrival to see him looking around the room curiously. "You're worried about them?" she asked after a moment.
"Yeah," the boy answered. He paused, thinking a little before continuing "I know they said they'd look for Mom and Dad if they could, but… I don't want anything to happen to them either."
"I can understand that," Shalua said. "It's not easy waiting around, not sure of what's going to happen next. But I'm sure they'll be fine. Cloud's tough, and I don't know if there are many women as stubborn as Tifa… And they've got Zack and the others with them. They all took Sephiroth together. A few Tsviets shouldn't be a problem."
Denzel visibly relaxed at that. "Thanks," he said.
"No trouble, kid," Shalua replied. She turned her attention back to Shelke, who seemed to have opened her eyes in the tank.
"Shalua?" the girl asked.
"Something I can do Shelke?" she asked.
"Not really… I was just listening… I think… I am beginning to understand… maybe…"
Shalua stood up and walked over to the tank. "Understand what?"
"Why the Tsviets and Deepground must be defeated," Shelke said. "If they succeed… a lot more people will be hurt… and that's not something, I think I want."
Shalua placed her real hand on the glass. "It's not going to happen," she said.
For the very first time since she'd seen her sister in Midgar, the flat expression was gone in place of a small smile. It was a real one, tentative, but real, and Shalua felt she would give anything to see her little sister wear it more often. But then, something else happened…
On the inside of the tank, a black mist started to form. Before Shalua could even say another word, Shelke was enveloped by it and then disappeared.
Shalua's eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed in anger. Turning to Denzel she said "Would you wait here? I have to go."
The boy nodded and Shalua hurried to the door, she had to find Rayleigh to let her know what was going on. And then, she was headed back to Central Command to talk to Reeve and get in touch with Zack. There wouldn't be enough time to get to the city itself before the end of the final assault, but she could be on her way there. She was not about to lose her only sister again.
June 21st [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 11:00 PM
At long last, GUARDIAN had reached the railway station in Sector 8. A squad of Deepground soldiers with Shrike class hover packs had been waiting for them when they emerged from the tunnel in order to climb up on the train platform for the final push to the Shinra building. Zack quickly put up a shield to protect himself and Aerith while Cloud sent out a fire spell. Freya took position between him and Kunsel as both of them each fired off shots. The birdshot caused the Shrikes to spark wildly as one of their pilots frantically tried to get down to the street safely but that was before a shot from Kunsel's gunblade brought him the rest of the way down.
Kunsel looked around as Genesis moved to counter a Deepground SOLDIER on the ground while Argento cast a powerful Bolt spell, sending another Shrike careening into a nearby building. Reno and Rude were holding their own, though as Freya fired off another round at the approaching squad of Elites at the door, and dove for cover, Kunsel noticed them do the same to evade a grenade that had been tossed in their general direction. Freya loaded two more shells into her shotgun and fired them both to disrupt the onslaught when all of the swordsmen in the party rushed in to take the elites directly, followed by Vincent and Aerith, both casting spells while Vincent alternated casting and shooting. Little by little, the conflict was moving steadily up the street, the clash of swords ringing, the gunfire raging under the darkened skies that so seldom ever showed stars, until at last, the group stood at the main entrance to the Shinra building.
As the last enemy fell a hush fell over the area. Bathed in the floorlights that had been installed into the concrete, everyone now looked at the main entrance into the Shinra building and wondered what lay beyond it. Freya sidled over to where Kunsel and Cissnei were. "How are you guys doing?" she asked, her eyes alert for any attackers.
"We're fine," Cissnei said.
The lady Turk looked them over and after a moment she said to Kunsel "I think someone clipped you while you weren't watching."
He glanced down at his side and noticed a small trickle of blood where a blade had ripped through his sweater. "I was looking for an excuse to get rid of this shirt anyway," he said.
Freya sighed and reached for her Cura materia. As she finished casting, she heard Zack step up to the door. "So, are we ready to go inside?" he asked.
"As ready as we'll ever be," Aerith said.
"Okay then." With that, Zack stepped forward, and dramatically pushed the golden double doors open, and everyone followed in after him.
As they stepped into the foyer, the lights from an ornate chandelier above them cast ghostly shadows across the gray marble floor, flanked by the two stairways leading up into the higher levels of the Shinra building. As they crossed the threshold, he could see the old familiar elevators to his right as well as the exhibit hall through the glass window, painted with the Shinra logo. However, right in front of the empty receptionist's desk, stood two familiar figures. Nero the Sable waited a few steps ahead of his brother, the air of protectiveness obvious in his eyes. Weiss the Immaculate stood about three steps behind him. But something about him seemed… off somehow… Something about him at this moment… He wasn't sure what it was, but the Tsviet looked different, almost like he wasn't feeling well.
At that point, Zack stepped a little ahead of the others. The light in Weiss's eyes was one of anticipation and even this far away, Kunsel could see his teeth glinting as he smiled. "At last we meet face to face, Zack Fair. And you, Vincent Valentine, and Cloud Strife."
"I can't say we're happy about it," Zack said. "All those people you murdered, not even for anything they did wrong… Especially because they did nothing wrong. It's enough to make a guy sick."
Weiss chuckled as though what Zack had said was hilarious, and he sat on the reception desk as though he were some ancient lord surveying his subjects. "What out of anything I've done thus far makes you believe that I care?"
"Perhaps if you considered the risk you were taking by tampering with that which you don't understand," Argento said. "Not that you would."
Weiss laughed even harder at that. "Who are you to lecture me, Argento? Don't forget, you were just as much a part of our coup in the beginning. What makes you so weak-kneed now?"
"True," the silver Tsviet replied. "But I knew full well what we were attempting when we made it our goal to kill the Restrictors. We did what we did because it was the pragmatic solution in order to win our freedom. But what good is freedom if the world ends? You are dealing with forces greater than all of us, and the risk of unleashing the mere threat of them could cause the end of the world."
"Either way, I've seen more than enough of this crap," Kunsel said, his glare fixed at Weiss, though his statement was directed at both Tsviets. "None of you have any sense of right and wrong at all. You got your freedom, sure, but do you understand what you had to do? Who you had to use, to do it? The people you killed, and those whose deaths you caused. You used them, and then cast them aside when they weren't useful anymore. How is that anything but wrong?"
Nero looked in his direction. "Wrong? Such a quaint concept… Such weak ideas quickly leave the picture when all that matters is who comes out on top, and we're more powerful than any living creature on this planet. If anything, it's more than right that it should be under our control."
"To hell with that, and to hell with you." Kunsel pointed his gunblade directly at the black Tsviet. "It's always been this way, the people with the most power think it gives them the right to do whatever they want and step on whoever they want! The ends always justify the means, and who gives a damn about whoever gets in their way! But let me tell you something. Every time you choose to sacrifice someone for your cause, that's one more person who isn't coming home to his family! Every time you use someone as a pawn, that's one more person who has to deal with how what you're doing affects them!"
"The weight of knowing that, it's pretty heavy, if you actually care. It's what a true leader has to deal with every day in times of trouble. A lot of Shinra's leaders didn't care, and that attitude was exactly what was wrong with Shinra in the first place!" He didn't expect them to understand. Everything Luxiere had suffered because of them. Everything the people of Midgar had suffered because their lives were nothing but fuel for Deepground's schemes. These were levels of evil on par with Professor Hojo, and personally, after everything he'd seen happen, with Angeal, with Genesis, with Sephiroth, with Zack, and Cloud, with Luxiere, with SOLDIER, the Turks, Shinra in general… He'd long ago gotten tired of watching.
"An impressive speech," Nero said. "But bleeding hearts like yours have no place in Deepground. Nor will they have a place in the new world we will create. Anyone who can keep up is welcome, but those who can't can either die, or get out of the way and down on their knees."
"Well said brother," Weiss said, standing straight and walking towards the center of the room. "Naturally, those who choose to resist; they shall be slashed, strangled, and slaughtered. Beaten, stabbed, and crushed. Garroted and impaled. Shot and executed without mercy. The time has come to cleanse this world."
Kunsel heard Freya scoff with annoyance next to him. "Well excuse us if we don't see it that way!"
"That's right!" Tifa said, bringing her hands up in a ready stance. "We didn't save the world from Sephiroth just so you could turn around and take it over."
"As if we'd let you," Cloud agreed, disconnecting the hollow blade from the First Sword so he could take stance.
"We're already fighting over who controls the place as is," Reno added, tapping his rod over his shoulder, rather haughtily. "We don't exactly need the competition yo."
"Legend shall speak of sacrifice at world's end," Genesis said, taking stance with Rapier at the ready, "But that time is not now."
Weiss laughed again. "Well in that case, I hope you're ready to play."
"I guess we'll just have to find out," Zack said, hefting the Buster Sword in front of him.
Weiss drew a pair of weapons that looked very much like katanas with guns built into the blades. "Then come at me with all your strength," the Immaculate emperor crowed. With that, he charged, and the dark smoke around Nero began to get thicker. That was also when Kunsel noticed that several Deepground SOLDIERs and elites were also coming down the stairs from the upper level.
Glad to be back everyone. To clarify, when I said last three chapters. I meant the ones that had yet to be completed for Part III, one of which, will be the chapter you see next week. However, that is not quite the end of this little saga. There is still one last interlude and a final story arc left. More details will be provided at Part III's conclusion, so stay tuned.
See ya next time!